By Kevin Kastner
WASHINGTON (MNI) – The value of wholesale inventories jumped 1.9%
in October, while sales posted a 2.2% increase, keeping the
inventory/sales ratio steady, data released Thursday morning by the
Commerce Department showed.
Both wholesale inventories and sales were boosted by particularly
strong gains in farm products. Inventories of these products rose 20.5%
in October, while sales of these products rose 25.9%. The
inventory/sales ratio for these products fell to 1.30 from 1.36 in
September.
There were gains in the value of inventories for other categories,
such as petroleum products and most of the durables categories, though
automotive inventories declined 0.1%.
The inventory to sales ratio held steady at 1.18 in October, but
was still down from 1.22 a year ago on a seasonally adjusted basis. The
ratio was unchanged at 1.17 from year ago before seasonal adjustment.
Sales growth over the last year has been slightly strong than inventory
growth, though inventory growth has closed that gap modestly in recent
months.
Factory inventories were already reported up 0.9% in October, so
the outlook for business inventory growth is to the upside, barring a
large drop in retail inventories when the data are released next week.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDS$,MT$$$$,M$U$$$,MAUDR$]
